


It's the season

by Nami



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post DMC4, Uncle/Nephew Incest, danero secret santa, winter holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28555191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nami/pseuds/Nami
Summary: Nero learns more about customs on the mainland.
Relationships: Dante/Nero (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	It's the season

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mangledmann](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mangledmann/gifts).



> Written for the @mangledmann for Danero Secret Santa exchange. He wanted something festive and while I doubt there is something like Christmas in the DMC universe, I tried to fulfil his wish. I hope you will like it!
> 
> Thank you, Kori, for betaing this fic for me ♥

**It's the season**

It never stopped to amaze Nero how the same celebrations on the mainland and in Fortuna were completely different in some aspects but could be very similar too. 

For example, in the middle of harvest, people covered their heads during a day. It symbolized workers hiding from the unforgiving sun when working on a field – it took Nero a lot of explaining for Dante to realize that no, people in Fortuna weren’t prudes who covered himself from head to toes, Dante just arrived during a harvest celebration – and in the evening there was a feast. On the mainland people didn’t cover their heads, outside of few exceptions Nero had spotted, but their feast was very similar: a lot of local food, people dancing together in circles, almost everyone wearing clothes with flowers emblements. They sang similar folk songs. 

On the other hand, there were some customs Nero couldn’t wrap his head about. One of them was currently being held right in front of him: a thick, warm-looking sweater with the worst colour scheme Nero had ever seen in his life. The whole sweater was dark green with blue dots. On its front was a purple reindeer with an orange evergreen tree in the background and whoever designed _that_ either hit their head or a bottle too hard.

Maybe both.

Nero moved his gaze from that horrible, ugly thing to stare at Dante’s pleading face. Dante was wearing a sweater too; his was purple-red with huge green glass balls on the front and a text _‘My balls are heavy’_. It was so ridiculous it made Nero snort.

“Before you say no,” Dante started, waving the sweater in front of Nero, “it’s you who said you want to get to know local customs, kid.”

Nero grimaced. If anyone told him he was going to wear something so ugly, he’d think twice about saying something like that. But Dante looked so damn _happy_ when he had shown Nero this sweater. Actually, the past few days, since Nero showed an interest in the winter festival, Dante had been happier. He didn’t stare at walls with unseeing eyes as often as usual and Nero caught him a few times humming festive songs. 

Dante often seemed to be unbothered by anything, letting the world go as it pleased without interacting with it. Now though, he looked like he really wanted to participate in all the activities in the city as if he was starved for them. Which was silly because those activities happened every year, Dante probably did all those things already many times. 

Unless he didn’t.

Nero’s heart skipped a beat when he realized that this was the first time they would spend the winter holidays together. Would it be that Dante was excited for the festival because he would be with Nero…?

The thought alone was too romantic, too _sweet_ for Nero’s tastes, but nonetheless, his cheeks flushed slightly and something warm coiled in his chest. Dante was a romantic at heart no matter how much he denied it; if it was his way of showing he cared about Nero, who was Nero to refuse him?

“Fine,” Nero sighed, pretending to be annoyed when snatching the sweater from Dante’s hand.

He quickly took off his hoodie and put on the sweater. Despite being ugly as hell, it was surprisingly comfortable and warm. Even sleeves were wide enough to accommodate Nero’s demonic arm, something he didn’t notice before.

“So? How do I look?” Nero asked, pushing his electrified fringe away from his eyes. He either would have to cut his hair or stop wearing woollen clothes.

Dante was staring at him with the widest, biggest grin Nero had ever seen him made and his eyes were practically _sparkling_ from joy. It made Nero blush harder, but at the same time, he became happy too. Wearing an awful sweater just to see Dante smiling like that was a small price to pay. Nero would wear one of the rest of his life if that meant no shadows of past would ever again ghost over Dante’s features, that he would stay excited like this forever.

He was just as sappy as Dante, wasn’t he?

“Not bad, kid.” Dante grinned at Nero even wider, which shouldn’t be humanly possible, and then leaned down, pressing a chaste kiss to Nero’s cheek before movingback, his mouth brushing over Nero’s bottom lip. “Let’s go to the market now.”

* * *

There wasn’t anything like a winter market back in Fortuna and Nero didn’t know what to expect. Sure, he could have checked it on the internet but he wanted to see the real thing first. Dante wasn’t much help, only mentioning there would be food – lamenting about the lack of pizza too – decorations hand-made by the citizens and some games to play. Maybe there would be even an ice-skating rink? It’d been too long since the last time Nero visited one.

They took a bus to avoid looking for a parking spot but that meant they had to walk a few minutes to reach the town square. Nero was surprised how many people were outside despite how dark it was already and cold. Everyone seemed to be excited, chattering happily. It felt nice to walk next to Dante to someplace where all of them could have fun.

They took the last turn and Nero stood, frozen, his mouth parting slightly.

The whole town square looked like from a fairy tale. There were a lot of small, wooden booths decorated with glassy balls and garlands in all colours. The smell coming from the booths was delicious, prompting Nero’s stomach to growl. In the centre of the square stood a giant evergreen tree covered in shiny, silver ornaments and lamps. Ribbons of lights were shining on every booth and were connecting street lamps to each other. With everything covered in a thick layer of snow, the whole place looked simply magical.

Nero turned to Dante, grinning so hard his mouth hurt. 

“I thought you would like it, kiddo.” He grabbed Nero by his demonic hand and pulled him towards the market. “Let’s go! Lady said they have fantastic hot chocolate here.”

They quickly run to the entrance, kicking snow at each other’s legs and both giggling like children. There was something in the air which made Nero _want to_ behave like that, all carefree as if nothing bad could ever happen to them.

Dante’s palm was warm even if he didn’t wear gloves. Nero thought they would separate as soon as they entered the square – they weren’t too touchy freely with each other in front of other people – but Dante only squeezed Nero’s hand tighter.

“Is it okay?” He asked quietly, looking at Nero with some nervousness. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” They were both tall guys with unusual coloured hair; they always drew attention to himself and Nero wasn’t yet too confident when too many people stared at them.

Nero looked into Dante’s worried eyes, which observed him carefully, waiting for his reaction. Dante was always so gentle about the way he expressed his feelings for Nero in front of others; right now it made something stuck in Nero’s throat and his heart beat faster again.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Nero mumbled, embarrassed, hiding his mouth in his scarf. 

He heard Dante chuckling quietly. They had to walk closer now, their arms touching each other. Even through his thick winter jacket, Nero could feel Dante’s warmth. If he only moved a little closer he could put his head on Dante’s shoulder… Nero was happy for the cold as it was a good excuse for his suddenly redder cheeks although at the same time, he suddenly noticed how many pairs around them were walking like that. Not only they had their hands entwined, but also their heads were leaning against each other. Nero watched them with a longing he had never felt before. Yet, who could have stopped him from doing the same?

Throwing a quick glance at Dante, who seemed to be mesmerized by a display of lights on one of the booths, Nero leaned his head against Dante’s shoulder. He felt Dante tensing under him.

“Don’t say anything, let’s just get that chocolate,” Nero said quickly, feeling both embarrassment but also being weirdly proud of himself. 

Dante was his boyfriend and if Nero wanted to, he could scream it from the rooftops. 

“I wasn’t going to,” Dante answered before something leaned on Nero’s head gently. Dante had to put his head against Nero’s; it made Nero’s heart flutter in happiness. “Chocolate first and then ice skating. How does it sound?” They started to walk, plastered against each other, Dante’s thumb gently massaging Nero’s demonic hand hidden by a thick glove.

Nero sighed with content. He was warm, the person he loved was right next to him and he felt like walking on a cloud nine when lazily strolling through the square, watching all shiny decorations and other happy people with almost childish wonder.

“Perfect,” Nero answered, turning his head and kissing Dante’s shoulder even if Dante couldn’t feel it through his coat.

He wasn’t sure if it was an answer to Dante’s question or just a description of how he felt but at that moment it was both.

**Author's Note:**

> You can hit me up @firebyfire on twitter if you want to talk :) 
> 
> The Danero account with Secret Santa and daneroweek is on twitter too - @daneroweek


End file.
